Soreness.

Ireland could be without their talisman Johnny Sexton against England this weekend with the Leinster outhalf along with Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw all siting out training today due to “soreness”.

And with Joey Carbery already sidelined – Connacht’s Jack Carty could be set to make his first start for Ireland on Saturday with Leinster’s Ross Byrne also in line to feature.

“This morning was a case of managing a few guys with a bit of soreness and the rest of the squad training hard for the game on Saturday,” Ireland coach Richie Murphy said

“There’s no real fears about them, it’s just about managing them and getting their work-load right for possibly involvement this week and, if not, the following week.”

In terms of Carbery – Murphy says the Munster outhalf is doing “really, really well” as he battles to be fit in time for Ireland’s World Cup opener against Scotland next month.

“Obviously, the time frame around his injury has been well stated. He’s recovering really well, he’s well into his recovery programme and, talking to him, he feels good and confident. He’s exactly where the medics would expect him to be at the moment.”